Death and Souls - The Dancing Blade
by Jermaine94
Summary: Requested by FreeChimchangas They were swallowed by Darkness. And they landed in an age of Darkness. The only thing they can do...is survive. Bleach/DarkSouls3/Bloodborne


Death and Souls: The Dancing Blade

 _ **Well hello there you avid readers of this humble writers work. I bring you another story! This one is something special. As the classification says, this is a Dark Souls III, Bleach and Bloodborne Crossover! It's something haha! This is actually a request! Requested by FreeChimchangas, I bring you…The Dance of Souls. Enjoy!**_

' _ **Fear is the mother of Mortality'**_

 _ **Friedrich Nietzsche**_

 _ **Chapter 1: The Day the Rain Fell**_

It hardly ever rained in Soul Society. This day was one of those rare days. The rain fell as if the heavens were crying. A tall, brown haired man wearing glasses and a white coat over a black uniform strolled out of his office. He stood there watching the rain fall with mild amusement. A smirk etched itself on his gentle face. _It rained that day too…the day that Shiba Isshin met Kurosaki Masaki…the Quincy infected with 'Project White'. I wonder how that union turned out._ He snapped out his musing when a voice spoke up form next to him.

"Um, Captain Aizen, when is the rain going to stop? I haven't seen it rain here in a very long time." The now identified Aizen turned to face the speaker, a young looking woman with brown hair held up in a bun. She stood next to him, also watching the rain.

"Well, Hinamori-fukutaicho, the last time the rains fell like this, there was rumors of flooding with the Seireitei. It has already been raining for two days. Do not worry though, I believe that the rains will soon end." He placed a gentle hand on her head, making her smile brightly and blush just as brightly as well. She giggled happily when he started to gently stroke her head. His head snapped up when there was a monstrous burst of reiatsu. A burst so massive that Hinamori was dropped to her knees immediately. He himself was slightly shaken from the burst. His eyes scanned the horizon. That's when he noticed something horrifying.

The rain had stopped. And all the water had seeming vanished…and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky anymore.

 _ **-5 minutes prior – Squad 12 Barracks-**_

"Now isn't this an interesting sight? I wonder what this secret door leads to?" A certain shopkeeper strode through the underground passageways of his former squad. Although, Urahara Kisuke always knew these places existed. He had…countermeasure to the current Captains countermeasures. He always had a way to get into Soul Society, doesn't mean he wants to always be there. As he strode through a dark corridor, he saw a keypad and a large steel door at the end. He took a glance at the combination keypad and scratched his chin, then he input a combination and smiled as the little red light changed to green. The door hissed and slowly slid open, revealing a dark room, and one terrified occupant. He waltzed right in and almost retched as his eyes came upon the state of the person he was looking for.

He knew of her existence. Knew of her lineage. Her heritage. But here she was. Disheveled and defeated. He growled when he saw the state of her clothing. Even though people thought of him as a hentai or pervert, he actually respected women immensely, and placed them upon the highest of pedestals. He took off his signature dark coat and draped it over her shoulders. Smiling all the while, he destroyed the shackles placed on her wrists and ankles, and pulled out a modified shihakushou from seemingly nowhere. He placed it on the ratty bed and strode back outside the room, giving the girl some privacy to get dressed. He sighed to himself. Thankfully, the girl hadn't been here long, but still long enough to be left in such a state.

' _I really shouldn't have freed Kurosutchi. He's more of a monster than I ever thought.'_ He shook his head, but turned to face the room when the occupant pulled gently on his sleeve.

"Um, thank you for the clothes, mister…" He waved his fan and smiled jovially.

"Alas! I am but a humble shop-keeper! There is no need to thank me!" He suddenly went serious. And the girl flinched slightly, but the reassuring hand that was placed on her shoulder eased her fears.

"Yamamoto Maika, you need to run. Now. There is no doubt that Kurosutchi Taicho knows you got out. Here, use this once you escape from the barracks." He placed what looked like a cliché detonator in her hand. She looked at him curiously, before something clicked in her head.

"Mr. Shopkeeper, how do you know my name? I don't ever remember meeting you." She frowned when he smiled, and started walking away.

"And that's exactly how it should be! Bye!" And he was gone. Just simply vanished. She looked around and let out a sigh. She took off down the same corridor, stopping before every corner, making sure that she wasn't being followed.

She made it close to the exit, before the one person she wanted to avoid appears before her. He smiles at her viciously, his hand grabbing at nothing in front of him.

"Test 445-F, what do you think you are doing? How did you get out of your cell? I designed that cell specifically to counteract your reiatsu. There should be no way you could have gotten out alone, unless…you didn't get out alone…now…who helped you? And who do I have to discipline? SPEAK!" HE drew his blade when the girl stood her ground. He took a strep forward when suddenly, the distinctive sound of whistling could be heard. Both Shinigami looked around, not seeing the source, but a sword dropped from the roof and stabbed itself into the ground right in front of Maika. They both looked up and saw the shopkeeper waving at them, before he vanished again.

Maika thanked him mentally, taking hold of the sword, relishing the familiarity given from the zanpaktou. A voice appeared in her head.

' _MAIKA! MASTER! WE ARE TOGERTHER AGAIN! OH HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU!'_ Maika flinched at the loudness in her head, her ears ringing. She smiled at the warmth emanating from her sword.

'I have missed you too…so much…Soukyoku.' She held her sword in one hand and looked back up at the Captain in front of her. She paled when she saw his face. It was a mixture of rage, anger and pure, unbridled abhorrence.

"URAHARA KISUKE! HOW DARE YOU BREAK INTO MY SQUAD!" He ripped his sword from the scabbard in between his legs, releasing it immediately.

"RIP! AIZOGIJHIZOU!" His sword morphed, gaining two extra blades, a goldish color and what looked like a face near the guard. He was royally pissed. He leveled his glare at his escaped prisoner, and launched into a quick series of shunpo, trying to land a hit on the girl so the paralyzing effects of his zanpaktou could work. Maika jumped back and barely avoided the middle blade. She turned her head and avoided another attack from the side, and tucked her legs up to avoid a stab at her ankles. She landed, her instincts flaring up and she threw herself forward, narrowly missing the slash at her back. She glared at the angry Captain and held her sword in front of her.

"FLY! KIKOO!" Her restrained reiatsu exploded outwards, burning everything that it came into contact with, including the unfortunate Twelfth Squad Captain. Everywhere around the Seireitei, her reiatsu crushed most Lieutenants and froze some Captains.

 _ **-With the Sou-Taicho-**_

The girls reiatsu landed on his shoulders, and the Ancient Titan just opened one eye and looked in the direction of Squad 12. He noticed then that the calming sensation of the falling rain had vanished.

' _Maika! So that is where you were?'_ He went to stand and make his way to protect that which he let slip through his fingers. But the alarms started blaring and he spun to face the screen.

" _ **WARNING! UNAUTHORISED SENKAIMON OPENING!"**_ Yamamoto disappeared within seconds, heading towards his grand-daughter…Maika.

 _ **-Back with Maika-**_

Maika stared at the still breathing charred corpse of the Twelfth Squad. She knew he was still alive, but he would be horribly disfigured. But, remembering the things that he did to her, she knew that he would be able to fix himself in no time. Maybe he would paint himself to cover the scars. Her head shot up when she heard the alarms go off. She vanished in shunpo and appeared in front of the barracks, she held up the device that the shopkeeper, now identified as Urahara Kisuke, and pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

She stared at the device and smacked it against her palm a couple times, clicking the button repeatedly. She turned the object around in her hand, not realizing that she had the button still pressed down with her thumb. She felt a strange sensation, and the world seem to rise above her. She looked down and saw a bright light and a set of shoji doors on the floor. She let out a scream as she fell into the ground.

 _ **-Karakura Town-**_

"Ichigo! No! Stop!" Kurosaki Masaki lunged towards her son, Ichigo, as he reached for the phantom girl who was standing on the edge of the riverbank. She knew that it really was the lure of a Hollow. The giant weasel thing was smiling from within the water. She was so close.

Just.

A.

Little.

More!

She reached out with all her might, and only saw the claws of the Hollow as they swung down at them. Then. It came. There was a pulling sensation from within her soul. Her eyes went wide as she realized just what was happening.

' _Auchwalen! What is Ywach doing?! ICHIGO!'_ She felt her powers vanish, and the only way that she could protect her son was with her own body. Steeling her resolve, she went to throw herself onto Ichigo and take the blow herself. But, a multitude of things happened within that short time-span.

One, a young, blonde girl fell from a set of shoji doors above them, releasing a monstrous burst of reiatsu.

Two, Ichigo froze and his eyes went blank.

Three, the Hollow screamed in pain and started to dissipate into particles. But not before launching some sort of attack at the boy.

"ICHIGO!"

 _ **-Ichigos Mindscape-**_

"Who are you!? Where am I! Where's my Mom!?" The orange haired boy cried to the taller, pale version of himself, who watched the scene with pity in his eyes. Finally, the taller Ichigo had enough.

" _ **Oy King! That's enough! What are you? A man who can fight? Or a weak piece of trash? Stand tall! Never look back! Retreat and you will age! Hesitate and you will die! WHERE IS YOUR RESOLVE…KING!"**_ The boy stopped crying and looked at the other person, his eyes shining with unshed tears. He sniffed and took a couple deep breaths. Once he had himself composed, he stood up and scowled at…basically...himself.

"Who do you think you are? Talking to me like that?" He flinched slightly when he got a glare from the other person, but gathered his wits when the person smiled sadly at him.

" _ **My name? Name…I don't know my name…I have one…but it was stolen from me…by the same person who was stolen from this place. By the same people who stole me from here. Don't worry though…those people are like me…they only want the best for you. They are coming. I don't have much time left…but I would like a name…so I can go in peace."**_ Ichigo stared at the person, something in the back of his head tingling when this person spoke. He knew he cold trust this man. This man only wanted the best for him, and would never, ever place him in any danger. So, if he said he could trust the people coming here, then he would trust him. Since this guy was leaving, maybe he could ask those coming to protect him and his Mom from that monster outside. Something though, was on the tip of his tongue, something he had to say to this person. A name.

"Zangetsu. I will call you…Zangetsu." The person looked down at him with happy eyes. A genuine smile on his face.

" _ **Zangetsu. I like it. 'Cutting Moon'. If things were different, I would have happily helped you tear the moon apart for all that you love. Thanks, King. For giving me my name."**_ Ichigo waved as he started to vanish, all of him disappearing in a matter of seconds. In his place though, appeared two women. To beautiful women.

" _We got him, My Lady, now we have them both. It was a sad sight, but at least he went in peace."_

" _ **Correct, Sister. The lie that the Old Man had in place would have hindered the boy immensely. Speaking of the boy, it seems as if when the Old Man removed us from the entity known as 'White', he was dragged here, into his world."**_ The second woman, dressed all in black, wearing what looked like Robin Hood's hat over a mane of long, blonde hair, and a cape over her shoulders, crouched before Ichigo, giving him a warm smile.

" _ **Sister, isn't this young one…ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE! LOOK AT HIS HAIR! AND HIS SCOWL! OH HEAVENS! CAN I KEEP HIM!? PLEASE?"**_ By this point, the woman had scooped up Ichigo into her arms and was hugging the boy against her chest. The first woman, dressed in white and with a cloak over her shoulders, walked up to them, and placed a hand on the affectionate woman's shoulder.

" _Lady Maria, you should let the poor boy go. I think he will die soon."_ The now named Lady Maria looked down at Ichigo, who had gone a little blue in the face. With a startled shout, she put the boy down, and he happily took in lungful's of air.

"Geez Lady! Are ya trying to kill me? Or just help me set the world record for holding ones' breath?" He glared at the laughing woman, who smiled at him. When the other woman stepped forward, smiled at him, he felt a warmth in him.

" _Young man, my name is Sister Friede, and it seems as if there is something you wanted from us, is there not?"_ Ichigo nodded, before turning to face them both.

"I need your help. Outside of this city, wherever this is, my Mom is being attacked by some monster like thing. It tricked me, and she tried saving me. I need your help to save her!" Both women looked at each other and nodded, before looking back at Ichigo. It was Lady Maria who spoke up.

" _ **Ichigo, there is something we are going to try, but you need to be out of here when we try it or it's not going to work."**_ The boy nodded and closed his eyes. He opened them again and looked sheepishly at the women.

"Um…how do I get out of here?" They both proceeded to laugh at the blushing boy, then the Sister waved her hand and sent Ichigo away. He closed his eyes as the pulling sensation returned and he felt as if he were falling. He opened his eyes and came face to face with his terrified mother, who was lunging towards him. He looked at her and saw the fear in her eyes, he went to wave when there was a monstrous pressure on his shoulders. He looked up and saw what appeared to be a falling girl, if the underwear he saw spoke of anything. He blushed up a storm when he realized that it really was a falling girl, and that the pressure that appeared was coming from her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what looked like a tentacle of hair shooting straight at him. But the strange thing was that the monster was disappearing into particles of some sort.

Everything was then covered in darkness. Ichigo looked left and right, but saw nothing. He looked up and saw the very same underwear that he saw before, but much closer. He once again was blushing up a storm, but that was soon cut off as the girl landed right on his face. It was then that everything went wrong. The darkness started to flicker and wane, and shortly after she landed on him, the darkness started to take on a red tinge. Then the heat came. It burnt everything, and it was ridiculous. Ichigo pushed the girl off him and came face to face with her. She had a gentle face, with long blonde hair, and mesmerizing blue eyes. She wasn't very tall he realized, and she was looked about his age, maybe a bit older. Probably 10 or 11, judging by her choice of…intimate apparel. Ichigo snapped his head around when he sensed the feeling of his mother close by. He reached out to her but got nothing. There was nothing, no-where.

"MOM! WHERE ARE YOU? MOM!" He called out but got nothing in reply. He searched desperately, trying to feel his mother around him but came up with nothing. His head snapped forward when the girl smacked him on the back of the head.

"Oy Carrot-top! Shut-up for a second! I'm trying to figure out where the hell we are!" Ichigo glared at her, before resuming his search for his mother at twice the volume, much to the ire of the girl.

"MOM! MOM!" He screamed out into the nothingness, hoping for something. But there was always the darkness. The girl once again smacked him on the head, but the blow that came was at twice the strength. Ichigo almost kneed his face under the blow. He glared at the girl again.

"I said quiet! Understand? Quiet!" She returned the glare the boy was giving her, before a sudden shaking caused them both to look around. They noticed that things started to get colder and colder, it was then that the darkness started to fade. It drained away into the floor, revealing a snow-covered walkway, and what seemed to be a sword impaled into a pile of dirt surrounded by skulls, to their immediate left. The two kids looked around, but Ichigo stopped when he saw something. The girl kept looking behind them, trying to find something. It was then that Ichigo started tugging on her sleeve.

"Cut it out."

More tugging.

"I said stop it!"

The tugging got faster and more intense.

"What! What do you wa…" Her words died away when she faced the direction Ichigo was facing, only to see a giant castle set upon a spire. The castle looked decrepit, with broken windows and collapsed battlements. The doors though, looked sturdy and ancient.

"Where the hell are we?" The boys question fell on deaf ears, as the girl herself was in shock. She just shook her head.

"I don't know. What happened? The first thing that I remember was being in Seireitei, then falling through the Dangai, and then falling on you. Then the shadow came and then we appeared here. I have no idea where this is." The boy looked at her, then looked down at his hand, the last scene replaying over and over in his head. If only he reached out to his mother when she was jumping at him. If only he took her hand. If only…

' _ **Oy, Ichigo! There is no need to think like that! This was a complete accident! We were supposed to send you and your mother back to your house, but the strange power from that girl mixed in with our magic energy, distorting the technique we were trying to use…the technique we learnt from the Old Man. But…it seems as if we brought you to the home of Sister Friede…I'll let her explain.'**_ Ichigo nodded to no one, causing the girl to look at him strangely.

' _Lady Maria is correct, it seems as if the strange mixture of that girls spiritual energy interrupted the shadow crossing technique we were going to use on you and your mother. And once the technique was interrupted, her own energy supplied the power for it, and it latched onto the first memory. Since we were thinking of your home, when the technique was botched, we thought of home, but it hit me first, and it brought us to my 'home', and that home is a place called Lothric. This place, young Ichigo, is very…very dangerous. That girl seems to be strong, so she may help you survive. I will give you a blade to use, the same one the Old Man represented. Maria has one too, but it is too big and too powerful for you to use at the moment. Become strong…Maria and I are very tired, so you may not hear from us for a while. The gift of the sword is the last thing I can do for you. Oh! The sword has a name…it's name is Zangetsu. When we awaken, we will answer the call, but for now, you will hear nothing…sorry Ichigo. I know you want to ask about your mother, but we cannot help you, we do not…know…where…she is…sorry…young Master…'_ With that, her voice vanished, and when he tried to reconnect to either Friede or Maria, he was met with silence. Poking on his arm brought him back to their new reality.

"Hey…why you crying? Remembering home?" The orange haired boy rubbed the tears away from his eyes, but that didn't seem to work as the tears kept falling. He choked out a sob before he started crying as the gravity of the situation crashed down on his 9 year old shoulders. He reached out and latched onto the girl, who tried to pry him off, but found herself holding on to him, her own tears falling as she too finally felt the situation sink in. They were in another world. Cut off from everything. She hugged the unknown boy as the two children let their grief show.

 _ **-20 minutes later-**_

Both kids, now calm, were looking at each other with a slight blush on their respective faces. Ichigo himself holding what seemed to be a trench knife, a bit longer than his whole arm. He was small enough that he could carry the blade on his back, and the bandages on the grip seemed to extend over the blade, forming some sort of cover, so the boy wouldn't cut himself. The girl, on the other hand, was inspecting her own weapon, talking to it and trying to figure out where they were. Ichigo decided to break the silence, waving at the girl and successfully gaining her attention.

"Hey, girl, I think I know where we are. These two spirits in my head spoke to me and told me we were in a place called Lothric. One of the spirits said she lived here a long time ago." The girl growled softly and glared at Ichigo.

"If you knew where we were…then why didn't you say anything!" She threw a snowball at him, and it smacked him straight in the face. He wiped the snow from it and glared right back.

"Because you were crying and getting snot all over my jacket!" She stood and waved her fist at him, and he responded by doing the same thing. The two kids butted heads and glared intently, hoping to hurt the other person with the look alone. When nothing happened, they both crossed their arms and looked away. Ichigo, looked down sadly.

"I didn't say anything because it didn't feel like the right time to speak." The girl looked at him and she felt all her anger vanish. She let out a sigh, and closed her eyes.

"That's fine. I wasn't in the mood to speak anyway. Anyway, you said Lothric, for some reason, that sounds familiar. It seems really familiar, as if I was here before." She looked around at peered at the castle and the surrounding area. She didn't speak for a bit, but when she did, it was more of a greeting.

"My name is Yamamoto Maika. Nice to meet you." Ichigo smiled at her, and extended his hand, and she shook it as he introduced himself.

"'She who dances with fire' nice name! Mines Kurosaki Ichigo!" His smile seemed to get bigger when she smiled in return.

"'One Guardian' huh? Suits you for some reason." He grinned, and thanked whoever was listening inside that someone finally got his name right. She let go of his hand and pulled her knees up to her chin, scooting over closer to the warmth of the flames.

"My Grand-father, Genryuusai Yamamoto Shigekuni, is the Sou-Taicho of a place called the Seireitei." Ichigo just deadpanned and shook his head.

"What? So you're some sort of Princess?" She turned her head so fast that Ichigo was worried she might have ended up with whiplash or something.

"Don't you call me that! I hate being called that!" She huffed and crossed her arms. Ichigo just grinned at her.

"Sure…whatever Princess." He got nailed in the head with a small pebble. He lifted his hands and placed them on his throbbing forehead, tears threatening to fall. Once the two settled down, they looked around and decided to find some more protection, because they were sitting on the bridge, completely exposed to the elements. They looked up at the large castle, deciding that the best place to be would be inside, and out of the cold. They looked at each other and nodded. Making their way up the stone steps slowly, they made terrible progress. They only got halfway before Ichigo felt something tingle somewhere. He poked Maika on the arm.

"Hey, something feels…wrong. I think we should turn back, and see if there is perhaps a way to get down." Maika just glared at him, before really looking into his eyes and seeing fear in them.

"Why should we go back? It was your idea to come to the castle."

"Yeah…that was before I got this feeling of…death." Maika froze at that. He could feel the death radiating from the castle, and it was making him want to turn away. If whatever was in there was evil enough to affect the kid like this, then she had to step up. She looked at the top of the stairs and kept moving. Ichigo hissed at her to get back, but she just waved him off and kept moving.

She hit the top of the stairs and peeked over, and she was immediately forced to duck as a gleaming spear whistled through the space her head occupied not seconds before. She looked back over and saw what looked like a knight in dilapidated silver armor charging at her hiding spot. It had a large kite shield in its left, and was drawing a straight sword with its right. Her eyes widened in terror as the knight got closer and closer. A tug on her ankle snapped her out of her daze, and the force of which she was pulled shocked her. As she cleared the top step, the knight arrived at full tilt.

It locked onto the two kids and readied itself. There were intruders in its home. It would kill without hesitation. No matter if they were children or not. It took off down the stair, sword held out to the right. The girl drew her own blade and so did the boy. But it was painfully obvious. The boy had no experience with a sword. He held it too tight and his stance was sloppy. The Silver Knight took full advantage of his weakness. It charged right at him and swung horizontally, but it let out a low growl as the girl parried his strike, her small frame belying her strength. As the sword bounced back off her guard, using its shield, the Knight swung around, bringing it crashing into her stomach. She screamed out in pain and fell backwards, coughing and spluttering. Turning to the boy, who recklessly charged in, though he was fast, the Knight sidestepped the attack and lashed out with the pommel of his sword, collecting the boy on the shoulder. Walking towards the girl, the Knight readied its sword to take her head. But a searing pain caused him to falter in his step, dropping to one knee, it looked around and saw the boy holding his own sword with two hands. It looked down and saw that the boy actually took his leg _off at the knee_. Without a decent support base, the knight toppled over. Trying to push itself up with its sword, it felt its grip suddenly vanish. Then the pain arrived. The same pain that came when it lost its leg. Looking up, the Knight saw its missing arm lying a small distance away, a pool of blood slowly forming around both stumps. The normal weight of its shield vanished as well, and looking at its left, it saw that it still had its arm, but the shield was now in the hands of the girl, her sword dripping blood, just like the boys.

Maika threw the shield away. That thing had caused her enough pain already. She probably had a few broken ribs. She spat some blood out, and walked up to the Silver Knight, raising her sword above her head. She noticed Ichigo out of the corner of her eye shouting at her, and a fist crashed into her thigh, eliciting a scream of pain. She dropped back, and crawled away from the knight, who was dragging itself in her direction. It got in her face and wrapped a gauntlet around her throat.

She felt her heart race. The thing was pounding in her head. She looked into the helm and saw nothing. This thing, although it could bleed, was a ghost. A remnant of what used to be here. She was seriously in danger, serious danger.

' _Oh God! Someone…help me! Please! I…I don't want to…don't want to die! SOMONE! ANYONE!"_ Her vision started to darken, and some saliva dripped from her mouth and down her chin. Her eyes started to roll into the back of her head. As soon as the pressure from the Knights grip appeared, it vanished. Taking in gulps of air, she went to wipe the saliva from her chin, and wipe the few bits that slid down her top. But when she moved her hand away, she saw blood. Her head shot up and she looked at the Knight. It looked basically as it did before, but there was one major difference. There was a sword sticking through its face. As soon as the blade was pulled out, blood spurted out and sprayed her completely. She groaned and started wiping the blood away, deciding that when possible, she would need to bathe. She looked up at her savior and saw no one but Ichigo, who too was covered in blood from removing the blade from the things head.

They both looked at each other, then turned to the side and relieved themselves of their lunch from the previous day. Ichigo was the first to recover. He wiped his mouth and stepped away from the body corpse, that was in the initial stages of dissipating. Once the thing was gone, there was what looked like a soul floating up into the air. Maika stood, trying to wipe herself clean of as much blood as she could, and stumble over to Ichigo. He saw her failed attempt at walking and catch her as she tripped. As soon as she realized she was in his arms, she threw her own around his neck, and let the tears come.

Through her tears and her silent 'thank you', a mantra she repeated over and over again as he gently rubbed her back and cooed softly to her, Ichigo got to thinking.

' _Maria and Friede said this place was really dangerous…that thing almost killed Maika and myself…the poor girl…we really gotta get moving, but where? From here, you can't really see a way down.'_

' _ **Use…the…bonfire…think…of…home…'**_ His eyes went wide when the voice of Maria echoed in his head. He looked around, trying not to irritate the now calm Maika, and searched for this…bonfire. He only saw the burning sword…that looked like a bunch of people could gather around! That was it! That thing is a bonfire!

' _Golly…I'm so smart! Thanks Lady Maria…if you can here me!'_ He gently pulled himself from Maika, smiling at her the whole time. She looked up into his amber eyes, feeling the warmth of his yet to be revealed power washing over her soothingly.

"Hey, Maika, we gotta move. Maria managed to say something to me…though she was probably sleep talking…we gotta sit at the bonfire and think of home. Well…that's what she said we had to do." Maika just stared at him quizzically. She thought about it momentarily before nodding in agreement. Together, with Ichigo still supporting Maika, they trudged over to the bonfire and sat around it, feeling the warmth seep into their bones. Without saying anything, Maika scooted over and basically planted herself right up against him, leaning her body against the young boy. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, smiling slightly as she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep.

 _ **-Ichigos Mindscape-**_

Maria slowly pushed herself to her feet, looking around curiously at the sideways city that she and one other occupied. She let out a sigh and tried to stand, but when she lifted herself up into a sitting position, her entire body felt so heavy that she just fell backwards and let out a sigh. She looked up at the sky, seeing the turbulent clouds, the first signs of rain starting to show in the distance. She closed her eyes and looked back into the most recent memories of Ichigo, and what she found was horrifying. He and the girl had taken on a Silver Knight of Anor Londo, the very same Silver Knights that guarded the Princess of Sunlight before the corruption arrived. She watched in silent rage as the Knight charged the kids, not even caring that they were children. It swung at Ichigo, who was saved by the girl. She watched as they fought, and were veritably losing. She felt her heart soar as Ichigo lashed out, the boy using his instincts and letting them drive him, at the Knights leg, his sword easily cleaving through the armor and straight through bone and muscle. She cheered when the leg came off cleanly and the Knight fell. She stopped and growled when it kept trying to move. Once again elation coursed through her when the girl took its other arm and shield.

When the one-armed knight lashed out with its not shield less arm, smacking a gauntlet straight into the girls thigh, causing her to scream and fall, Maria felt something akin to murderous insanity. She could feel her masters small, yet protective, affection for the girl, and since he was the boss, she wanted nothing more than to protect what he wants to protect. Maria looked sideways, trying to look away from the clouds, but ended up looking at herself in the reflection of one of the many glass windows that littered the sideways city.

She had still the same appearance, though her skin was slightly more pale, and her eyes were black with golden irises. _**'Much like that Hollow version of the Young Master'**_ **.**

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a slight tug on her power. She looked back at the memory of the fight and saw that Ichigo was staring at the Knight, its hand clamped tightly around the girls throat. She saw Ichigo suddenly shift. He shifted from frightened and small, to enraged and royally pissed. She could still feel the slight tug on her power, meaning that Ichigo was still channeling his instincts. The same instincts that the Hollow represented. The instinct to fight, and to win. She felt the darkness that was his previous Hollow counterpart start to rise within him, and he lunged forward, sword raised. If she were to look at the boy from directly in front of him, she would see that his eyes were exactly the same as hers.

Hollow.

She let out a shiver as she tapped into his power, and felt the absolutely overwhelming influx of power and magic. She frowned when she tapped into the magic energy, feeling the slight taint of the Hollow. If the taint were what she feared, then the boy would be able to use Blood-based attacks. She shivered at the thought. She wouldn't want the boy to experience anything like that. Once again she found herself drifting away from her original task of watching the fight, and she resumed watching. What she saw made her grin in feral abandon and shiver in the face of the such ferocity. He plunged the short sword straight into the back of the Knights head, pushing it the helm and skull alike. With such ease that he had to stop himself from continuing forth and hurting Maika.

Unfortunately, the poor girl was bathed in blood when he retracted the blade, and so was he when the blade came free. She had to laugh when she saw their reactions. Once they were finished, they looked at each other, Maika trying to stand and stumble over Ichigo. What little there was of her heart skipped a beat when the girl tripped, only her entire body to tingle with warmth when Ichigo caught the girl and held her tight, letting the girl release all the pent up emotions from the traumatic event.

She let out a breath as she tried to communicate with the boy. She only managed to get a few words out, but she got what she needed across, because now she him looking at the bonfire, but she laughed out loud at his statement.

" _ **Golly? Really? GOLLY?! OH THE HEAVENS! YOUNG MASTER!"**_ She broke out into a fit of laughter, trying, and failing miserably, to stifle her laughter as to not wake the Sister as she rested. She glanced at the other spirit. If the Sister were awake, she would be fretting about the closeness of the two children, maybe even to the point where she would chastise Ichigo for inappropriately holding the girl. Because Maria could feel it. He was channeling her power at the moment, careful if anything else arrived. She grinned when the sat at the bonfire, Maika basically lying on Ichigo. Even though he would never admit to feeling it, she just found something she could blackmail her little Master with. She knew her could feel them, because she sure as hell could feel the two small mounds that were Maika's chest pressing up against him.

" _ **Oh young Master…you silver-tongued devil you. If only you were older!"**_ She giggled to herself, before she settled down and let out a deep sigh. Looking back at Sister Friede, Maria got to thinking about the two beings that inhabited the soul of young Ichigo before they arrived.

 _ **-Flashback – Grand-Fishers attack-**_

" _Who are you? Explain! Before I decide that my patience has worn thin and I remove you by force."_ The old man glared at the two women standing before him. Ever since Ichigo landed himself in mortal danger not 2 minutes ago, the very real sense of danger awoke something within the very deep dredges of his soul. The old man knew they were strong. Very strong. If by their posture and the casual shifting of their stances was anything to go by. One of the women, the one wearing a white dress under a black cloak, tilted her head and stared straight at him. He tensed slightly under the scrutinizing gaze, but he did not show any outward emotion. Materializing a large Khyber knife into his hand, holding the tip pointed down. The woman in white frowned slightly.

"What is that? Where did you summon that sword…Quincy." The old man vanished in a burst of speed, swinging the sword at the neck of the white one. Closing in, the sword bounced off another, and he inwardly cursed that he had forgotten about the second one, the one dressed completely in black. He had to jump back when the black clad woman swung her own blade, the thing tearing through the space he occupied just seconds before. Looking down, he noticed that his cloak had been cut, allowing it to billow open, revealing his outfit. The white clad woman looked at him in recognition.

"Juha Bach, the former Quincy Emperor. How did you get here." The now named Juha glared at her from behind his glasses.

" _I am not him…my name is Zangetsu."_ The woman in black laughed openly at his statement, before pointing behind him. He fancied a glance and saw the older white version of the boy he resided in. She smiled at them both.

"You are not Zangetsu. From what I can feel, he is Zangetsu, and you are Juha Bach." Both spirits turned to look at her, her voice somewhat soothing, not unlike the other woman, who's voice was veritably mesmerizing. The white version stepped forth, placing a hand on Juha and placing himself between him and the two women, who he had estimated to be _much_ stronger than them.

" _ **While you are correct, woman, you are incorrect as well. We are both 'Zangetsu'. Both of us represent a part of the Kings soul."**_ Nodding in understanding now, the woman bowed her head slightly in apology.

"I see, that makes sense. While you are both different, I am getting the slight feeling of the same power running through the both of you. Forgive me for making such a presumptuous statement." Even the woman in white inclined her head. Juha now took the lead, standing beside the 'true' Zangetsu.

" _While our identities have been stated, you two have yet to introduce yourselves."_ He saw the glance shared between the two.

"Forgive us. My name is Maria, and this is Friede. She doesn't like to talk much, but once you get her going, she can't stop." Both sword spirits nodded. Maria continued her explanation.

"We were both consumed by a Hollow known as 'White'. That is…the Hollow that corrupted the young boys Shinigami power. We are both very old souls. Much older than anything in this world, hence our being able to identify who you really are. It was something when White confronted us, and even more so when he defeated us and consumed our souls. Normally, when a Hollow feeds, the power is retained and given to the Hollow, but we retained our forms within White itself." Now Friede took over with a nod of her head directed to Maria.

"We lay dormant within White. Our power feeding him. He evolved much faster than anticipated. He basically skipped the Gillian and Adjuchas levels and went straight to Vasto-Lorde. That man, Sosuke Aizen, then managed to manipulate White and sent him to the world of the Living, in which he confronted the man known as Shiba Isshin. We know this because when White was defeated by Kurosaki Masaki, we awoke, and through her memories, we saw all those of Whites." The two zanpaktou spirits could only stare in shock. They had both theorized that before he became Zangetsu, the original Hollow White must have been monstrously strong. This just confirmed it. The fell into silence before the all turned in the direction of a scream. Friede turned towards the others.

"He needs help. He will die. Are you going to help him?" It was a simple question, and she expected a simple answer. She saw the twitching of Zangetsu, and she knew he wanted to dive right into the fray and kill whatever threatened his wielder. But she was utterly shocked when Juha stepped back.

" _No. We are not going to intervene. He is not strong enough. He needs a reason to fight. A reason to tear the heavens down. The death of family is a strong motivation."_ Friede was seething. Her anger rising by the second.

"You dare call yourself his power? When all you do is sit idly by as his world is torn apart? All for the sake of power?" Juha turned to face her, his face as stoic as ever. Zangetsu, though, was looking absolutely feral.

" _Yes. He needs to be strong for what is to come."_ Friede was on him in a flash, he sword flashing through the air. The Quincy managed to dodge slightly, but still received a serious wound across his chest. He looked up at the woman in white, and was shocked to see pure unbridled rage marring her features.

"You are trash, Juha. You don't deserve to be wielded by one as pure as Ichigo. Die." Her sword plunged into his chest, the force of the strike so powerful that the building below him fractured and cracked, massive chunks dislodging and falling into the nothingness. Zangetsu whirled around.

" _ **What the FUCK! What the HELL do you think you are DOING?!"**_ He charged her, swinging what seemed to be a large Khyber knife at her throat, but the blade was simply stopped by the woman in black, Maria.

"Enough! We want to save Ichigo! We want him to fight too! But leaving him battered and broken is not the way to do so! Friede, what are you going to do now? You literally destroyed a piece of his soul." Friede closed her eyes, she started glowing white before the Quincy was absorbed into her. She changed slightly, the cloak for one disappearing, and her clothes became slightly more regal. She looked at Zangetsu.

" _Any objections, Zangetsu?"_ The change in her voice sent shivers down the Hollows spine. He reached up and cut his hand across Marias sword, before pointing an open palm at the woman.

" _ **GRAN REY CERO!"**_ The attack tore through the building they were standing on, and as Zangetsu made to get away, a sword slashed him across the back. Grunting in pain, the Zanpaktou spirit dashed away, noticing something very wrong, he felt himself being pulled back towards the woman in black, suddenly, he felt his instinct start to fade away. He looked back in the direction he came, the same direction that he felt his instincts leaving to.

' _ **Probably that woman in black…she's trying to do the same thing the white one did to Juha…shit…'**_ Landing on the side of a building, he dropped to his knees, his back flaring with pain. He lifted his hand and looked at it intently.

" _ **What's going on? Who am I? Why do I…KING!"**_ He dashed off, leaving Maria and Friede far behind, zeroing in on his King's location, and once he arrived, he saw the frantic child lying on a building crying and wailing. He appeared before him and spoke.

" _ **Oy King!"**_

 _ **-Flashback End-**_

Letting out a sigh, Maria fell back on to the building, letting herself drift off to sleep. She needed to regain her strength. The failed Shadow Binding technique that they tried to use had completely drained them of their power. But before they drifted into the silence, Friede had managed one final act, the act of giving Ichigo some sort of defense. The Quincy portion of his original power that Friede had absorbed was complete, just as the Hollow/Shinigami power that she herself had taken was mildly incomplete. There was something missing, but she couldn't tell what it was.

' _ **Don't worry, Young Master. We will keep you safe. There is nothing in this world that can kill you, heck even hurt you, once you gain your true power. Maybe…you can find your way home. Friede and I will always support you. No matter what, Young Master. No matter what.'**_

END

 _ **And there it is! Chapter numero uno! Tell me what you think! If something needs a bit of a fixing let me know! Kudos to Freechimchanga for the story idea and spending quite a long time helping out with the story idea! This one's for you mate!**_

 _ **Jermaine94 signing off!**_


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